


Workplace Crush

by Strangerpal_DZ



Category: Mamamoo, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Fluff, Romance, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:33:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24792421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strangerpal_DZ/pseuds/Strangerpal_DZ
Summary: Is it possible for a mutual romance to blossom between two colleagues, or would it be a one-sided workplace crush?
Comments: 9
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hi readers,
> 
> Pardon me if there are flaws as this is my first long fiction I've written since I started adulting lol  
> English is not my first language so any constructive criticism on it is very much welcome!
> 
> *this fiction is still an unedited work in progress*

Nervousness crawled inside each of her bodily senses, be it butterflies inside her stomach, or trembling fingers, or a thumping heart- all were happening at once as she caught a glimpse of Taehyung in front of Level 4 restroom just now. Their eyes did not meet and somehow that appeased her agitation yet it made her regretful for not using that chance to greet him or at least nodded professionally at him. All these thoughts and feelings came haunting her while she was in the restroom. 

"Oh well, it _happened_. What can you do about it now, Wheein?" she sighed, flapping her hands curtly to dry the water off them and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had hoped just now, for Taehyung to look at her and smile so that she could try to continue the greeting with short conversation; but of course it didn't happen. 

Sighing, she dejectedly walked out of the washroom and looked at her phone to pretend reading something on it to avoid any eye contact with other people. LOL. The fact how badly she hated (and lazy) socializing with the rest of the humans at work was disturbingly acceptable in her ignorant mind. Hwasa, her close friend, had advised her countless times that this habit would eat her up some day in the future but Wheein could not care any less. ' _I'll try to improve my social skills_ ', she'd tell others in a way to convince herself along the process. 

She arrived at her desk, looking apathetically at the dossiers crowding her workplace. ' _Must she finish processing all of these on top of reading hundreds of emails?,_ ' she would constantly wonder. Her teammates were busy doing their tasks. Yongsun was diligently compiling the files; Byul was clicking the mouse and typing fast the keyboard while headbanging to what Wheein assumed metal songs; and Hwasa was just being herself reading the latest news (or gossips, who knows) on her desktop with no care given to the rest of the world. For the rest of the day, Wheein tried hard to focus on doing her job; in between the work, she would go to the bathroom and lowkey hoped to bump into Taehyung but one can only dream. 

It was six in the evening and everyone started to punch out of work. Byul and Yongsun were talking about some work gossip instigated by Hwasa during lunchtime earlier. 

"... _Yeah_ , and apparently Sujung just told me that two of the people from every department will be selected as their department's ambassador for that conference," Byul raised her brows, "not sure though how the selection will be done for ours", she shrugged and untied her shoulder length hair. Wheein could _swear_ she saw Byul blushing when Yongsun did that but eyes are the trickiest trickster. 

"I think Hwasa could get the spot, or at least in the Top 3." Wheein suggested, followed by the other ladies nodding to that. " _Yo_ , why was my name being called?" Hwasa arrived and started packing her stuff. She gave the three of them a cheeky side-eye and brushed off her own question casually, not that it mattered. 

"So ladies, dinner together tonight…?" Byul's question trailed for a few seconds, bit too long with no one answering,"... _owkay_ , I guess home it is. You guys are so boring." she said out loud, yet she had the exact similar thought as the other three. Byul and Yongsun departed first as usual given they needed to catch the train at 6.30 p.m. while Hwasa sat at her desk and looked down on her phone, _'scrolling tweets again_ ' Wheein thought and chuckled. "Wheein, are you staying back again today?" Hwasa asked nonchalantly, eyes fixed on the screen. Wheein stretched her body out before sitting straight. "I don't have any choice, Hyejinie. Maam needs this report by Wednesday. And it's already Tuesday. You can go first if you want. Take the scooter, I'll rent a bike." That caught Hwasa's attention, her eyes snapped away from the screen to Wheein's. They shared an understanding gaze between one another and nodded respectively. "Okay, see you tonight. Keys with you?" Hwasa interrogated. Rattling sound was heard. "Okay, have fun _lol_ and stay safe". With that, she was gone. Wheein was now all alone in the office, which meant she could finally focus on her work without any unnecessary distraction. She put on her earphones and got back to work. 

_'Clicking on_ **_Save_ ** _... There you go._ ' It was a quarter before 10 p.m. when she finished preparing the report, and for an extra security measure, she emailed a copy of the document to herself before shutting down her desktop. 

_'Dang, it's late_ .' She looked around her department and noticed only her workstation was lit up. She stretched out a bit before quickly gathering her belongings into her tote bag and started to tread toward the main entrance. Since it was yet 10 p.m.. she could see a few more people from other departments heading out of the office, tired faces like her presumably. Some were rushing, some were walking at a slower pace. Her eyes scanned around the surrounding hoping to find that familiar figure and gush all over him one last time before today ended. She shuddered at that thought and apologized to Taehyung in her heart as she felt she was starting to obsess over him like a creepy stalker. ‘ _Just a crush, Wheein. Don’t go overboard_.’ her sensible subconscious warned her. 

She walked faster as she suddenly remembered those who stayed back late would either: i) call the ride-hailing transport services, ii) walk, or iii) employ the company’s bicycle rental service. Upon reaching the designated area which was a bike stall that could store around twenty bicycles, she spotted only 1 bicycle was left at the farthest aisle from where she was standing (from another perspective, it was parked the nearest to the self-tagged counter) after squeezing her eyes a bit, inclining on one side. She stopped walking and carefully reached into the bag to search for her ID tag which she just put inside in a rush just now and continued walking ahead once she retrieved it. But on her way there, she noticed something was not right- that the bicycle was gone with the wind, **_literally_ ** , as she heard the screeching noise of the pedaling and the swooshing breeze passed by her as she was pacing to the counter, simultaneously turning her head to the place where the bicycle was parked at- everything was happening at the same time leaving her all perplexed. The aisle was now empty as someone else had apparently managed to rent it first. “What was that all about? _Like_ , now do I have to walk home? **_Definitely_ ** not going to call Snatch as it’s almost the end of the month which means... I **_am broke as hell_ **!’ she muttered harshly under her breath while subconsciously putting her bag on the self-tagged counter. And most importantly, who was the person who managed to rent the last bicycle? 

Well, her question was soon answered as that person suddenly returned to that place and parked the skeletal-like vehicle in front of her. It was Taehyung - _huh_ , she did not see that coming. Well, she was not exactly angry (more frustrated) at the person before, just irritated, but once she was aware that person was Taehyung, her irritation waned. Quietness filled in the place for a tad while.

“Hey, do you want this bike?” he softly offered, his sultry voice breaking the silence. 

‘ _Erm yes, and you too if you don’t mind_ ,’ if only she could say this.

Instead, she shrugged and replied in defeat, “I did, but you got it first so…but thanks for asking,” she tried not to look annoyed and smiled as sincerely as possible.

“I see.” Awkward silence ensued. 

So...” he trailed hesitantly, “You sure you’re okay then? Just double-checking because you know, it _is_ late night already”.

“Yup, I’m good.” Wheein gave him two thumbs up as a reassurance. 

“Okay, then.” he said with a resigned tone, shrugging prior to swiftly swinging his left leg over the saddle and maneuvering the handlebars all the way to the right before scooting ahead. He was off within seconds, never looked back as Wheein had hoped. The first thing that came into her mind was how dazzling he was. Second thing was, _‘Not even a goodnight wish, huh?_ ’ she thought, biting her lips, while letting her subconscious to attack her invisible guts. ‘ _Well Wheein, you could’ve just wished him first you know,_ ’ and such retrospection made her whimper inwardly. 

_But, one can always dream_ , she thought, and she was sure as hell to be dreaming whatever happened tonight with Taehyung in her sleep- over and over again.

***

“Hyung... _Hyung_!”, Taehyung snapped out of his thoughts and looked up just to see Jungkook puckering up. He adjusted his spectacles slightly to balance it after it got angled wrongly when he was resting his head on his right palm just now. 

“ _Umm_ , do remind me why you’re still here again?” he felt slightly annoyed by his junior’s sudden presence. Taehyung was in the middle of coming up about the title of his copy which he had been struggling with since this morning, and Jungkook had snapped him out of his creative thinking process. Somebody definitely owed his _sunbaenim_ a Starbucks tomorrow. 

“Hyung, are you going to sleep here tonight? It’s already 8 p.m.” Jungkook said while packing up his stuff, preparing to call it a day **_finally_ **. 

“ _Oh_ .” Taehyung reflexingly stretched out his upper body and stood up. For a few seconds, he just stood still, spacing out with a blank mind due to him actively milking out his brain the whole day. He scrutinized the whole department and saw another two colleagues of theirs still locking their eyes on the desktop screens, ‘ _I wonder if I look like that?_ ’, he pondered. He shook his head and looked at Jungkook who was all set to go back home. 

“I’m going to stay over a bit. Still stuck at the title, _tsk_ … See ya tomorrow.” Taehyung winced and slowly sat on his seat, reclining onto the back of his seat with his chin up, eyes closed, and praying for ideas to come knocking into his mind. 

Thirty minutes passed and Taehyung just knew he could not stay focused any longer (though staying focused was inevitable as the deadline was the next day) and decided to get himself a hot black coffee. Off he went to the pantry with his mug, treading his steps discreetly as he did not want to disturb anyone’s peace in the vicinity. 

The pantry of his department - Branding, was shared with another two departments; Finance and Commercial. These three departments were in the same Bubble, designed in a three-way roundabout with the pantry as the epicentre. There were a lot of Bubbles at the office and each consisted of either two or three departments respectively. Why Bubbles one might ask; it was not surprising as the company was called Foam so, _go figure_.

He arrived at the almond painted pantry that was vibing with subdued light, eyes drifting around before settling himself at the spot near the curved, fish-eyed structured window at the back of the confined area. The bare window was heavily painted with rain droplets he noticed. ‘ _This is some lofi stuff_ ,’ he chuckled inwardly, sipping his black coffee. He checked on the clock on the wall and it was 9 p.m. sharp and in his mind, the clock was blaring thrice to remind him of the time. He washed the mug and left it on the wooden case marked **Branding** and afterward dried his hands off using a _Good Morning_ towel hung nearby. His phone buzzed out of the blue; the screen showed Namjoon calling, ‘ _perhaps to check out on the work progress_ ’, he thought to himself, and scornfully picked the call up. 

“Yeah, I’m almost there. Yes, I’ll make sure to complete it by tonight. Relax, Namjoon. You’re on a date, for God’s sake!” Taehyung cried out loud to his workaholic colleague who was also his best buddy. “Okay, hanging it up now,” he abruptly hung up causing the phone to fall on the floor. He reached out to it and slowly stood up noticing someone was approaching the pantry. He eyed the person from his standing spot and saw the person was a lady, with earphones on and eyes glued to her phone. Her head was slightly bobbing and he could hear giggles coming out from her. It was pretty fascinating to watch her, Taehyung thought. She did not seem to notice the other person’s presence in the room as she was so engrossed in her phone tightly held by her right hand. Her thumb flicked the screen up and down swiftly, frown creasing her forehead once in a while, made him wonder what she was reading - or thinking- and simultaneously she would occasionally miss to grab the coffee decanter’s handle- either she was too occupied or she was just swaying her left hand absent-mindedly following the beats of songs she was listening to. Observing these motions of hers even though within the span of seconds, manage to make him grin- almost chuckling, because he found her to be... _cute_ . _Aigoo_...

Somehow, Taehyung managed to remember and summon himself to the reality of working life that he still had an unfinished business awaiting him at his desk and reluctantly, ‘ _Ungh,_ ’ he left the pantry in a rush. Maybe, just maybe, he might bump into her soon he hoped, somewhere, like ‘ _I don’t know_ ,’ he inwardly sighed, ‘ _...at the bike stall perhaps._ ’- that wish of his made him chuckled out loud for real this time. He sat back on his seat once he arrived; sitting straight and all focused, he quickly typed the finalized title of the copy before clicking on **_Saved_ **.

Meanwhile at the pantry, Wheein who was previously occupied, looked up and turned her head quickly to her left as she felt wind whooshing out of nowhere. Feeling a bit spooked up, she grabbed her mug and hurriedly walked away back to her desk to continue where she left off just now.

**Extras:**

_**Employees checkout/rent a bike by self-tagging their IDs at the automated counter (a small vertical box stuck on a one-metre standing pole)_

_**Uniquely, each department was not bound by an entry; all three had their own entrances and backdoors so people could easily travel anywhere within the Bubble. Everyone stayed connected as the company practised an open-space work environment hence you would end up at least feeling familiar (sense of familiarity) looking at faces there._


	2. Chapter Two

It turned out that you could not instruct your brain to perform what your heart desired, as for Wheein in this case for it to replay last night’s scenes with Taehyung. Wheein woke up 10 minutes earlier than her alarm clock which made her slightly feel like a grumpy overachiever. Still lying in bed when her alarm went on 10 minutes later before she lazily turned it off, she pondered how on earth could she be functioning at work today knowing that she was still unable to move on from last night’s conversation with Taehyung. Taehyung, her 6-month crush and the fact she could see such transcendent of a being in a close up left her stupefied. She deliberately sat up and shook her head, reminding herself that it was nothing and she should be preparing herself for work now or would end up being late for it. 

Hwasa was having cereal for her breakfast at the living room; leg-crossed, covered with a small pillow to put her bowl on it. Their place was a moderate-sized apartment located at the nearest residential area from the office; sharing the place with them were another two ladies but they were going to move out soon which meant they needed to search and secure two new housemates as soon as possible. She sighed inaudibly, quickly put the thought away and continued crunching the cereal to bits. Wheein appeared with her hair in a messy bun (her cutest look if you asked Hwasa) and went straight to the fridge to take out the milk and her leftover Subway’s meatloaf from last night’s dinner. “Really, Wheein...Subway with milk? You're gonna make me throw up so early in the morning.” Hwasa made her  _ I'm-vomiting _ gesture. Wheein rolled her eyes, trying to ignore her mocking and started eating her meatloaf while standing over the flat-panel kitchen cabinets. 

“So, are we going to work separately today?” Hwasa asked out of the blue, her teeth actively crunching the cereal. Wheein turned to her, frowning. 

“Why’s that?” she genuinely asked, wiping bits of mayonnaise on her bottom lip. It was Hwasa’s turn to be confused.

“Urm, the bike, it ain't gonna pedal itself to the bike stall you know,”. 

‘ _ Oh, yea. Last night- the bicycle, Taehyung... _ ' Wheein thought, stunned at her brain’s sudden recapping. ‘ _ Only now you’re replaying the scenes huh, why hadn’t you last night? _ ’ she scoffed at its cells, almost audibly hissing to a certain extent. 

Hwasa became suspicious upon seeing Wheein space out afterward. Her best friend getting stunned over a simple question was something not to be overlooked. 

“What happened last night, Wheein?” she asked curiously with a deadpan face.

“Nothing, really.” Wheein answered while aggressively chewing her breakfast. She tried to avoid Hwasa’s fiery gaze which was still on to her after she had finished eating her meatloaf. Hwasa, who had stopped eating her cereal moments ago, stood up and brought the bowl over to the sink, standing by Wheein’s side, and washed the dish in a complete silence. Wheein felt distant from her best friend all of sudden, hence she started to fill in Hwasa about last night’s incident. Out of frustration, Wheein sighed at her own incompetence upon completing her side of the story. 

“So, are we going to work separately today?” Hwasa asked again with a strained casual voice while pouring herself orange juice into a mug, sipping it ever so slowly. Her every move was calculative and Wheein was feeling slightly uncomfortable by it. 

“Are you mad, Hyejin?”, she instinctively called Hwasa by her birth name. Everytime this occurred, it meant things just got way too serious- and yes, Wheein knew Hwasa was feeling disappointed, she knew her well enough. 

Hwasa stopped sipping her drink and puckered up. 

“Jung Wheein… I’m not mad, honestly. It’s just, I’m wondering why you felt like you couldn’t tell me about this thing. I was expecting for you to barge into my room and just tell me all about this  _ asap  _ just so we could hype over it.”. One could actually listen to the water tapping in the sink like a slow motion scene in a movie.

_ Tap, tap... _

“I’m sorry, Hyejin. I was too tired and frustrated at myself over this thing, and I thought it wasn’t anything major to trouble you with some more.” Wheein pursed her lips, slowly tugging at the helm of her bestfriend’s night dress. 

Hwasa gave Wheein another  _ I-don’t-mind-how-trivial-thing-is-I-want-to-know-it _ kind of gaze and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. She crossed her hands over her chest and exhaled. 

“We’re going to be late as hell at this rate if we’re still hung up over this matter. Let’s just tell everything to each other like we always do. I love hearing you fangirl over your crushes, Wheein. It always makes my day so _ it’s okay _ to do so.  **_Please_ ** do so, I beg you,” Hwasa ended her sentence with a mocked pleading gesture, triggering resolved laughter from both girls. 

“Okay...” Wheein promised to do with a sheepish smile, crossing her heart determinedly. 

Both of them decided to walk to the office, giving Wheein more time to share about last night’s incident with Hwasa. Seeing Wheein fangirl over Taehyung with genuine happiness, made Hwasa’s heart filled in with giddish contentment. Wheein had always had this way of infecting others with her pure puppy-like charm without her even realising it. Hwasa would think what a loss Wheein’s one-sided crushes might have suffered as the consequence of failing to realise that this lady by her side had feelings for them ( _ albeit short-lived but still… _ ) and not being able to reciprocate them; it was their loss. They arrived at the office earlier than expected thus decided to chill at the pantry first. Wheein went to the coffee maker and suddenly remembered the spooky vibe she had last night, that made her shudder. She poured coffee for herself and orange juice for Hwasa and brought the drinks over to the standing table near the window. They were chatting about office politics before being greeted by Moonbyul who usually arrived earlier than them. “ _ Eyy _ , you guys were early today. Anything I missed?” she goaded, flashing her hamster-like smirk that annoyed Hwasa slightly. “Lol,  _ piss off  _ missy,” Hwasa scoffed and handed Moonbyul the coaster for her iced coffee, followed by a  _ thanks  _ from the latter. Noticing it was 15 minutes before 9 a.m., they quickly wrapped the heated gossip up and decided unanimously to continue at their workplace, knowing Yongsun might want to be included as well. This time around, it was Wheein’s time to wash the glassware so she had to stayback a bit. 

“Okay, done.” she heaved and looked around for the Good Morning towel when suddenly she felt a light tap on her right shoulder that made her turn her head to the right. 

***

Taehyung arrived at the bicycle stall around 8.15 in the morning, getting off the bicycle and wheeling it by his side to the parking racks, securing its spot at where it was taken from last night. He figured that it was a bit early than his usual clocking in time hence he decided to kill the time by having a cup of morning coffee at the pantry. He was stopped by Namjoon midway. 

“Something happened? Why are you so early today?” smirking, Namjoon asked curiously while settling down at his desk which was the opposite of Taehyung. 

“I don’t know, just felt like being an early bird today.” Taehyung shrugged, leaving Namjoon behind and trotted to the pantry. Upon arriving at the entryway, he caught the sight of Jungkook’s head from where he was standing and was about to greet him when his eyes saw a glimpse of a lady’s figure (her face was unfortunately blocked by Jungkook’s head). ‘ _ Aigoo _ ’, he thought with a grin, forgoing his earlier intention and skidded to the pantry. 

Taehyung walked past those two figures and went straight to grab his mug- however, he could not stop himself from eavesdropping as they were a bit too close in his vicinity. They were engaged in a casual conversation, basically chatting about their daily activities these days. Taehyung was simultaneously preparing his instant coffee when Jungkook tapped him lightly on his left shoulder, which made him turn his head around. His heart skipped a beat as his eyes locked with Wheein’s. The latter was holding a Good Morning towel, ‘ _ probably drying her hands _ ’, Taehyung thought, and she somehow seemed to be saying something but he was unable to decipher it, as if he was in a daze. 

“Hyung,  _ hyung _ !” Jungkook was desperately calling out to him, breaking Taehyung out of his fleeting trance. “It’s almost 9, we’ve got a meeting with Mr. Bang at 9.15, remember? Come on.” his junior gestured toward his wristwatch and dashed out of the pantry. Taehyung who was suddenly being left alone with Wheein, started to smile awkwardly before proceeding to grab his mug. For a few seconds he was just standing there, did not know what to say. 

“Well, I guess I’m off too… got some work to attend to,” Wheein said shyly with soft giggles while hanging back the towel to its original position- her dimples shining on both of her cheeks, did not go unnoticed by Taehyung. Both then facing each other, nodded once before Wheein turned her back and headed out. Tousling his hair, he sighed out loud. This morning was definitely not one of his best, he thought to himself- and again, he blamed Jungkook for this.

It was 3 in the afternoon when the company’s official bell was rung 3 times, which meant only one thing: the Townhall Meeting. The scheduled meeting somehow acted like a break for some people who were stuck with their endless work, who inwardly sighed with gratitude to finally be able to catch a breath. Taking a seat nearby the only threshold existed at the mini amphitheatre, Taehyung tried reorganizing mentally his work that he had been working on just now as he was in the midst of creating content for the company’s online magazine upcoming edition. He was so occupied by his thoughts he did not notice Namjoon arriving there and took the seat beside him. Namjoon left Taehyung alone with his thoughts as he was used to this view of his best buddy. He saw Jungkook hanging around with his circle of (junior) friends; a lady with a cute bang who was sandwiched between him and Hwasa - the  _ Instafamous  _ lady,, and few other people who were seated beside Jungkook and Hwasa respectively near the stage. Taehyung was surprised to see Namjoon - who was looking over his phone, probably texting his current girlfriend. His eyes lingered to where his  _ beloved  _ junior was at and his gaze quickly fixated on the lady with the bang. He suddenly remembered that he did not even know her name. 

“Dude.” Taehyung cleared his throat.

“Yeah?”

“Just wondering where the rest of our team are at? I can only spot Jungkook with those peeps there.” Taeyung threw his chin into the way of those people. Namjoon’s gaze followed suit. 

“Yeah, them juniors…” Namjoon rolled his eyes mockingly. 

“Juniors?”

“Uh- _huh_.”

“From which department? I’ve never seen them before.”

Those lines snapped the other guy from his phone. His eyes widened in disbelief.

“Well, at least you have to know Hwasa. She’s quite an  _ Instafamous _ .”

Taehyung shook his head nonchalantly. “Nope.”.

“Um, okay then. Anyway, I don’t really know the others. But I think the one sitting to her right is Wheein. They’re BFFs I heard.” 

‘Wheein...’, Taehyung repeated that newly found name and tried hard not to display a bright smile. 

‘Wheein.’.

***

Meanwhile, Wheein was intently listening to Hwasa when she suddenly had the urge to sneeze.

“Someone’s bad mouthing you,” Hwasa sneered.

“I guess so.” she pouted, and started to pinch her nose. 


	3. Chapter Three

  


It was Friday-  _ d-Day  _ that everyone was looking forward to every week. Wheein, Hwasa, Moonbyul, and Solar decided to spend their lunchtime at the office that day because it was in the middle of the month. 

“I’ve got to curb my passion for online shopping because sooner or later, it’ll kill me…  _ literally _ !” Solar was complaining to the other ladies while looking at her bank account online. The four of them were sitting at their favourite spot at the pantry- nearby the fish-eyed window furnished with a square coffee table paired with four nesting stools, just perfect for them. Moonbyul had had enough of her complaints. 

“Then, quit it for real this time,  _ Missy _ . Stop saying ‘ _ I’m gonna stop _ ’ if you don’t really mean it. It’s getting annoying.” Moonbyul said, rolling her eyes for the  _ nth  _ times. 

“Ladies... it’s just impossible for you guys not to bicker for a day. Interesting isn’t it, Hwasa?” Wheein stating her thoughts. Hwasa slowly nodded while looking down on her phone. 

Wheein took a look at Hwasa’s phone knowing that her friend was looking at her Insta, as usual.

“Sujung unnie looks good with that pose...ooh and I love that thing she’s wearing. Come on, like the post already!” Wheein poked Hwasa’s arm. 

“Okay, okay… stop poking my arm or I’ll tag you under HIS recent post!” Hwasa warned.

Wheein instantly jerked away her hand and put her hands on her mouth, trying not to scream out loud. 

“You wouldn’t dare…” 

Moonbyul and Solar looked at the other two and asked suspiciously, “WHO. is this guy?”. Both synchronously gave her a sidelong look. After much probing, Wheein surrendered and disclosed her crush on Taehyung. 

“ _ Ahh _ , Taehyung.  _ Well _ , to be honest, we kinda figured that out already. We could not  _ not  _ notice the way you act whenever he’s around.” Solar blaring the fact before continuing blowing her tea. 

“ _ Yeah _ , all blushing and fidgety. You pretty much exposed yourself.”, Moonbyul added.

“Really?” Wheein sighed and plopped her back against the wall. She suddenly wondered if that guy noticed that as well. She quickly put away that thought; he is a man… they can be pretty shallow about this matter. Solar and Moonbyul continued to tease Wheein on the matter when Hwasa gasped out of the blue and semi- coughed, semi- whispered Wheein’s name. 

“What?”. Hwasa pointed out at the pantry’s threshold. It was Namjoon and friends. Taehyung was at the very back of the group. 

“OH.” Wheein tried to stay composed and she believed she succeeded in -pretending- doing it. 

Moonbyul who was feeling rather mischievous, stood up and walked up to Namjoon. She could sense Wheein flustering behind her. 

“Hey, there.” Moonbyul greeted Namjoon who was in the middle of washing his mug. 

“Hey, Byulie. Having lunch here today?” he eyed the other ladies. 

“Yeah… since everyone’s broke.” Both of them laughed pitiedly at the remark. 

“Going somewhere with the guys?” 

“Yeah, it’s Jungkook’s birthday today so Tae was feeling quite generous. We’re going to that BBQ’s restaurant after this.”. Moonbyul checked out the other guys who were hanging out at the threshold, waiting for Namjoon perhaps. 

“Oh, really? Well, tell him I wish him a happy birthday then.”

“ _ Hmm _ , maybe you could tell him yourself.” Namjoon said and went to his group for a quick second before going back to Moonbyul.

“We’re just wondering if you and the others wanna join us for lunch? It’ll be on Tae.”. 

  


It was a sunny day; the sun was shining quite brightly and the skies were painted in blue hues. They were on their way to the nearest mall, opting for a walk instead of the train because of the nice weather, and because Taehyung suggested it. Wheein was thankful for the trees because they provided enough shades to cover her red face due to the heat, and also due to her being flustered endlessly. Hwasa kept reminding her to calm down and try to chill a bit- well in Wheein’s defence, it was not her fault for not being able to do so. Namjoon led the walking group with Moonbyul and Jin by his side followed by Solar with Jungkook; they were discussing the upcoming departmental ambassador event with much intensity. Hwasa and Wheein trailed close behind those two with Taehyung quietly walking at the back with quite a gap filled in between. Wheein’s phone vibrated out of the blue.

“ _ Ya _ , chill out a bit babe. Your nervousness is showing.” It was a text from Hwasa.

She quietly hissed at her and took a deep breath. How could she be calm when her crush was walking with such  _ tsundere-  _ ness behind her? She wanted to say something to Taehyung but he was walking quite far behind them.

_ Ughh _ . 

If only they could walk faster.

  


***

Taehyung had never felt grateful to Namjoon like the way he was feeling at the moment. After the whole inquiry about the girl with the bang at the townhall meeting a few days back, Namjoon could sense something was up with Taehyung. Taehyung decided to tell his best buddy about his interest in Wheein and Namjoon could not be happier - and mostly amused at the fact Taehyung finally became interested in someone- for his best buddy. 

Taehyung was the one who proposed to take a walk instead of riding the train because he wanted to try talking to Wheein; however, he was unable to do that so far because she seemed to be glued to Hwasa since they started their journey. It was not like he felt afraid to approach her with Hwasa by her side, it was just Wheein seemed to distance herself from everyone except her best friend. Taehyung could only sigh from afar. 

  


Upon arriving at the restaurant, Taehyung quickly took his seat in front of Wheein in his calmest manner, who was sitting at the very corner of the table beside Hwasa,  _ obviously _ . He heard several people clearing out their throats at the same time which kind of accidentally triggered an awkward silence for a second, before a waiter arrived to take their order. Jungkook was being all cheerful at his side and was the first one to state his order. 

“What are you guys having?” he asked the two ladies in front of him while waiting for the rest stating their orders. 

“Coke for me, and orange juice for this miss over here.” Wheein replied. He could feel the tremble in her voice, or maybe he was imagining it. 

“Cool, what about food, or are you guys on a diet?” he saw Hwasa rolling her eyes and inwardly hissed at himself. 

“I mean, dieting is one of the best and the easiest way to lose weight…” his sensible side was begging his mouth to stop talking. 

Wheein cracked a grin and was about to say something when they were intercepted by the waiter. Taehyung swore to provide a huge tip for him later. 

“We’ll have this set...and could you substitute one of the drinks with orange juice? Yeah, just one,” Wheein finished ordering and looked up at Taehyung.

“What are you having?” her dimple was showing when she pressed her lips upon asking him the question. 

“Your dimple…” he whispered, almost inaudible. Wheein gave him a perplexed look while the waiter reiterated her question. Taehyung took a light head shake and apologized to the waiter before proceeding to order the set that he was aiming for. 

  


“... and  _ of course _ , to Jungkook, the maknae of the group. Happy birthday to you, bro!” Namjoon gave out a short speech before they proceeded to dine. Everyone wished him a happy birthday and Taehyung smiled seeing his junior at his happiest self since he joined the company 10 months ago. Moonbyul who was sitting beside Hwasa asked Jungkook if there was anything he wanted for his birthday from his seniors. He tried to nudge away the question at first but after several attempts, he presented a white flag and told the group about his wish. 

“Well, I hope I won't be killed after requesting this,” Jungkook cracked a nervous laugh.

“...I’d like Taehyung to participate in the ambassador event instead of me, just because.” he was bracing himself to get hit by his  _ sunbaenim  _ but to Jungkook’s surprise, Taehyung was quiet in his thoughts. 

“Oh my., is he actually contemplating it?” Namjoon said out loud, who got cheers from the others. 

“Just go for it, buddy!” Jin accented the proposal. 

Taking a deep breath, Taehyung held up his hands and calmed everyone down. 

“Okay,  _ okay…  _ I’ll do it,” he said with gritted teeth and a sidelong glance toward his junior.

“... but with  _ one  _ condition.” he paused and looked at Wheein. 


	4. Chapter Four

Wheein could swear that her heart was about to burst when Taehyung looked at her straight after agreeing to participate in the ambassador event. He, however, shifted his gaze a few seconds too quickly to Jungkook and told him about his  _ condition _ . 

“You’ll have to take up my current project because it’s taking up most of my time these days. I will definitely not be available for that event if I’m doing this project. Of course the credits will be due to the person doing it...” 

“ _ Ya _ , that’s cheating. Just say you don’t want to join it,  _ hyung _ .” Jungkook said sulkily.

“No, I’m  _ dead  _ serious. I’ll join it but  _ yeah _ , someone has to take up the project.” Taehyung being all adamant about his condition created a still air of awkwardness. Namjoon, sensing the seriousness in Jungkook’s face decided to speak up. 

“It’s not that big of a project. Pretty much doable if you’re up for it, Jungkook.” 

Upon listening to his team leader’s green light and clarification, Jungkook felt that this might be a blessing in disguise, so he agreed to do it. 

“Okay  _ sure _ then, why not..” he smiled coyly and shook Taehyung’s hand. Everyone continued cheering them up and silently thanked Namjoon for his sharp wit. ‘No wonder he’s the team leader,” Wheein thought. 

***

The sound of the cutlery and continuous soft chats encircling the group; unveiling a fulfilling atmosphere around them. Wheein was silently eating and was figuring out how to start a conversation with Taehyung who was dining quietly in front of her. ‘So close yet so far,’ she sighed inwardly. She would constantly check him out under her bang whenever she looked up to observe the rest of the group. Hwasa was busy talking and making Insta stories with Moonbyul and Jungkook while Solar was in a deep discussion about some stuff with Jin and Namjoon on the other side of the table. Her desire to talk to Taehyung increased a fold upon seeing everyone having the best of their time mingling around. 

She was checking him out for the  _ nth  _ times when their eyes met with each other. Wheein who was chewing her food stopped moving her jaw and slowly gulped. Taehyung seemed to be flustered by it as well but managed to maintain his composure, or  _ maybe  _ she was only imagining him flustering. Her mind was definitely playing devilish tricks with her. 

“So, the weekend's approaching. Are you doing anything this weekend?” Taehyung inquired after taking a sip of his Coke. His gaze on her was giving her chills. Wheein could feel her brain stopped functioning; she was low-key panicking but she knew this was her chance to have a conversation with her crush. 

“I’m going back to my hometown tomorrow. My sister is buying my family a meal; apparently she earned her bonus this month for her excellent performance at work.” she tried to respond as nonchalantly as possible, and finished off her reply with a smile, hoping to ease her agitation. 

“ _ Ahh _ , where’s your hometown if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It’s actually quite nearby, just in the city’s suburb.” 

“Oh, which part? My parents’ house is in X by the way.” he said casually before taking in a spoonful of spaghetti. 

“Ooh, mine as well!” she almost squealed but her sensible side managed to calm her excitement a tone lower. 

“Oh really? How come we’ve never bumped into each other?” he asked rhetorically. 

“Well, actually we just moved into the neighbourhood at the end of last year. My Mum decided to settle down somewhere in between.” Wheein justified, sipping her drink to quench her panicky thirst. Somehow, Wheein secretly prayed for Taehyung to talk about something else rather than her family matters because as much as she liked him, he was still an outsider to her and that made her a tad uncomfortable. 

“Maybe we’ll bump into one another  _ someday _ ...” Taehyung flashed his loop-sided smile and ended his inquiry on Wheein’s family that instant. They continued their conversation about professional matters; Wheein enjoyed talking about her works and listened to Taehyung’s as it gave her a deeper insight on his character. She concluded so far that he was a perfectionist, similar to her but never a procrastinator which made her smile apologetically upon knowing that because her team could testify how bad her procrastination was (but it never affected her performance, just her sanity and sleep pattern), he hated coffee in general yet he could tolerate instant coffee because he admitted to staying up till late at night to do his work since his ideas would come up during those times so he needed something to boost his adrenaline, and Taehyung also apparently was a single bachelor (it was revealed thanks to Namjoon who broke the info while Taehyung was explaining about his love-hate relationship with instant coffee and its correlation to his work habit). 

“I  _ see _ ...” Wheein nodded slowly and tried to hide her sheepish smile after hearing the info about Taehyung’s relationship status. Hwasa who was checking her Insta chuckled softly and pinched her thigh, notifying Wheein that she heard that as well. 

The small group spent another 15 minutes at the restaurant before Jin announced it was 20 minutes to 2.30 p.m. and they would better get moving now. As promised, Taehyung went to the payment counter once the bill arrived at the table. He insisted to keep it only to himself; everyone could not just be happier for his treat. 

“Thank you and please come  _ again _ !” the restaurant worker thanked the group with a happy smile while glancing at the bountiful tip he received from the guy in that group just now and thinking that maybe today would not be so bad after all.

***

Taehyung could only sigh inwardly and gritted his teeth when Namjoon interrupted his conversation with Wheein and informed her about his current relationship status; _Single_. He knew his best buddy wanted to help a man out here but no, _thank_ _you_. He hoped that Wheein ( _and Hwasa_ ) would not get any wrong idea about the sudden revelation; he did not especially want them to think that he was too desperate about having a partner and was such a lonesome bachelor. 

He downed another spoonful of spaghetti and chewed it as slowly as possible as he listened to the lady in front of him telling him about her everyday work and how she was the opposite of him to some extent; she was a perfectionist when it came to work but procrastination was her Achilles heel, she loved coffee and felt it was the superior drink of all drinks she had ever tasted (he had asked her if it surpassed soju, and she paused, which triggered a chuckle from his side), and her dimples  _ man _ ... her freaking. Dimples. 

Their return stroll to the office was as similar as before; everyone was walking closely to each other - Hwasa and Wheein were just in front of him, and the rest were leading at the very front (it kind of felt like a short school trip). He had been calculating to make a move but Hwasa was always there; it was like she was guarding her best friend. He stopped walking and took a deep breath before sprinting to Wheein’s side. He was as surprised as those ladies who were in the midst of an intense bickering. 

“Well, I think I just heard Yongsun called my name a few  _ secs _ ago. Have fun chatting…” Hwasa winked and beamed a playful smile at them before she jogged lightly towards the people at the front. 

“ _ Yaa _ …” Wheein cried softly for Hwasa but to no avail. She looked at Taehyung apologetically and he was pretty sure she almost apologized literally to him for her best friend’s action; she needed not do that, he was  _ extremely _ thankful for it. 

“She’s a  _ really _ playful person, and daring I must say… but she’s a sweetheart.” Wheein initiated followed by his chuckle. They walked side by side, at the same pace he noticed, eyes lingering everywhere except to each other. 

“I think you’re gonna have a good chance of winning if you join the ambassador event.” she said out of a blue.

“May I ask why’s that?” Taehyung turned his body toward Wheein and started to walk forward in backward motion. 

“Well,” she flustered, “...you  _ obviously _ got the looks,  _ and brain _ , and everyone will be all over you like they always do.” her eyes flickered when she attended her gaze at him. Now it was his turn to be flustered. 

“Are you... one of  _ ‘everyone’ _ ?” Taehyung’s heart was about to burst when he asked that but he kept his composure as calm as possible. 

Wheein’s stare was directed elsewhere for a while before returning to him. 

“Of course, I mean, _who_ _wouldn’t_?” she replied with a teaseful smile. He returned it with a thoughtful smirk and turned around to face the front again. He could see the office building and felt sorry to be parted from Wheein.

“See you when I see you.” the latter said coyly.

“Yeah, but I hope it’s gonna be sooner.” he replied, lifting his eyebrows suggestively. 

Wheein laughed and they parted their ways to respective departments. 

That night, Taehyung was having difficulties falling asleep. He texted Namjoon about this and he could not deny Namjoon’s reply.

“I think you’re really,  _ really _ into her, dude.”

_ Yes, _ he thought to himself. 

He was definitely, undeniably infatuated with that dimple lady from Commercial. 

His brain subconciously replayed their interaction; he fell asleep soundly and continued to wander like a hopeless loon in the dreamland. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, an (short) update! Very kamsa for your continuous support!

It was 9 in the morning; Wheein was being chased by the sound of her Mother calling out her name from the living room. 

‘ _ God’s sake, it’s Saturday Omma...let me sleep more, _ ’ she complained silently, aggressively tousling her bed hair. 

“ _Whee_ -” 

“Yes,  _ Omma _ . It's the weekend, let me sleep more  _ juseyo _ …’ she pouted and placed herself on the sofa beside her Mum. 

“Ggomo’s gonna be home anytime soon and you’re still sleeping. Go and get ready!”

“But she’s gonna take us to lunch, not brunch...” Wheein yawned. 

“ _ Yaa _ , stop whining and get ready now!”

“Okay,  _ okay… _ ” Wheein lifted her arms up in the air as a sign of defeat. If only her Mum knew that she had forgotten about her sister’s treat today thus she purposely slept late last night. She went inside her bedroom to get ready afterwards. 

Both Wheein and her Mum arrived at the TMall an hour earlier for the lunch celebration. Her older sister, who was more known as Ggomo amongst her family and close friends, had just called them and informed them that she would be there in another half an hour, so both of them decided to stroll around the mall while waiting for her arrival. 

“Is Hwasa coming?” her Mum inquired as she was checking out clothes in one of the few shops they stopped by. Wheein nodded and told her further that Hwasa would be a tad late as she had some urgent work to attend to that required her to drop by the office that morning.

A moment later, Wheein received a text from her sister notifying, that she had arrived at the mall and on the way to the restaurant.

“ _ Yaa _ , _ don’t you think it’s still early to go there? We still have 15 minutes to spare _ .” she replied to her sister back. 

“ _ Better early than late. You know me, sis _ .”

“ _ Ungh, k… Mum’s checking out some stuff. We’ll be there once she’s done. TTYL... _ ”. Wheein took a look at her Mum who was still flipping through the clothes in front of them and told her about Ggomo. 

“Tell her to wait for us, I don’t want to go there and have nothing to eat.” Wheein smiled at her Mum’s witty remark and continued to usher her outside quickly. 

“I’m  _ starrrvinggg… _ ” Wheein muttered under her breath once the food and drinks were served by the waiter. 

“Hold up! Don’t eat first! I’m taking the pictures first,  _ hehe _ ...” Ggomo instructed quickly while searching her phone inside her tote bag. Their Mum rolled her eyes and sighed, complaining about their new generation’s obsession with social media. 

“ _ Yaa _ , me too!” Hwasa’s voice was heard from the distance and seconds later, they could see the former speeding up to their side with a paper bag on her right arm.

“Oh yes, hello to you too,” Wheein sneered.

“ _ Unnieee _ , happy birthday. How old are you now?” Hwasa wished Ggomo once she was seated beside Wheein facing Ggomo. 

“It’s a secret.  _ Shhh… _ ” Ggomo jokingly replied and received a playful gesture from Hwasa. 

“ _ Tschh _ .” both Wheein and their Mum remarked at the same time before remembering that it was not a birthday celebration that they were having. 

‘ _ These two, their minds... _ ,’ Wheein thought and shook her head silently.

“ _ Itadakimasuuu _ …” Wheein said out loud and started to dig in the food in front of her.

“Thanks  _ Unnie _ for the lunch.” Hwasa thanked Ggomo once she got out of the car and waved goodbye to the rest inside the car. Once she saw her friend safely enter her house, Wheein stepped on the fuel pedal and drove off. 

“Wheein- _ ah _ , can you send me to the nearest train station? I need to go somewhere.” Ggomo who was sitting at the back asked out of the blue. 

“Where are you going, huh?  _ Omma _ , ask her where she's going.”

“Let her be…” 

“ _ I _ bet she’s meeting up with her boyfriend.” Wheein jeered at her sister.

“Jealous much? Get yourself one then,  _ palli _ .” Ggomo teased her back and got an eye roll as a reply.

The journey from the train station to their home only took them around 20 minutes. Wheein’s Mum decided to take a nap which left Wheein with no one to hang out with. Social media were used to the maximum yet boredom still consumed her. 

“ _ Omma _ , I’m going out to the park. Got the keys with me.” she texted her Mum who was still sleeping on the sofa in the living room and dashed out.

The park was 10 minutes away from her house; it was the only park in the neighbourhood and was really taken care of by the community. In the middle of it, there was a small lake, big enough for boat riding though. Wheein loved the serene vibe there especially around this time as there were fewer people since it was still early in the evening. 

She was chilling on a bench under a tree when she received a phone call from Hwasa.

“Wheein! Where are you now?” she asked in all urgency which piqued Wheein’s interest.

“I’m at the park, why?”

“Oh my GOD. I just saw Taehyung’s story just now, like a few seconds ago and guess what?”

“ _ What _ ?”

“I think he’s at the park as well. Like,  _ right now _ !”

"Which park?"

"Your neighbourhood's."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure liste-"

“ _ Wait- _ are you sure it was not yesterday’s stor-”

“He was doing live,  _ Wheein _ !”

“OH.” Wheein could not help herself to not feel panic.

“Don’t panic. Chill.” Hwasa tried to comfort her but it did not sound convincing as Wheein knew her best friend was feeling panicky for her as well. Wheein told herself that it was impossible for them to bump into each other because first, the park was not that small to bump into your crush out of the blue, and second, it was not going to happen because life sucked when it comes to crushes. 

“I look like a hermit, Hyejin. I can’t let him see me like this. I’m wearing a freaking Sailormoon t-shirt, for God’s sake!”

“Well, it’s a cute shirt though…” Hwasa tried but no thanks.

“I’m gonna go back now. There’s no way I’ll let hi-”

“Wheein?” a deep voice greeted her from afar.

“Oh shit.” Wheein muttered harshly, loud enough for Hwasa to hear.

“ _ Ooohhh _ , good luck babe. Tell me everything later...bye!” giggles heard at the end of the line before Hwasa hung up the phone. Wheein took a deep breath and waved at the man who was steadily walking towards her.


	6. Chapter Six

"Hey there, Taehyung." Wheein responded to him with a quick wave, and a smile showing off her dimpled cheeks. He returned her wave with a quick nod and a steady trot.  
"I didn't expect to see you this soon." He chuckled, trying to hide his surprise, and a bit of excitement.. He meant it in all honesty as he was having an impromptu walk just now.  
"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here...at this time?" Taehyung raised his eyebrows slightly, feeling curious. Wheein was looking everywhere except him, and he felt a tad disturbed by it. He suddenly felt a tinge of jealousy over that tree across the park because it received much more attention from Wheein.  
"I was, urm, bored..." Wheein pathetically smiled, her macaron eyes formed. Her short answer dissatisfied him but for the sake of not being a creep (and not to push his luck), he just let it slide away.  
Wheein stood there with little mobility, her hand softly tucking a few strands of hair behind her right ear. Time stood still for a moment and he suddenly felt a huge gap between both of them. He realized that they had not really talked much since that lunch, and he missed that interaction with her.  
“So, what brings you here….at this time?” Wheein asked, hesitantly bringing her eyes to his.  
“Well, I was bored as well actually. In fact, I just did a Live on Insta just now before I saw you.”  
“Aaah, I see..” she trailed her sentence, “...well, I guess I’ll see you when I see you.” she nodded respectfully and was about to head home before being stopped by Taehyung.  
“Wheein!” he cried for her name, trying not to sound desperate. That had her attention; she stopped walking and turned around towards him. “Yes?”  
“I was just thinking...if you want to have dinner together tonight?” he could not believe it himself and he somehow felt Wheein was taken aback by his surprise invitation.  
Well, what’s done is done. He took a deep breath and flashed a nervous smile.  
“So, what do you say?”

***

When Hwasa returned to the apartment, the first thing that was in her mind (or had been in her mind since yesterday) was their laundry, making her ruffle her hair subconsciously and sigh endlessly. Feeling tired and hungry, she dragged her feet to the kitchen and checked out if anything was good enough for dinner.  
‘Guess I have to order food online again….’ she whined to herself. Feeling all forlorn, she suddenly missed Wheein’s energetic and comely presence now more than ever. And she was highkey anticipating the outcome of her best friend’s meeting with her crush.  
Her phone rang out of the blue and Hwasa lazily dashed to her room. She was feeling ecstatic when she saw the caller’s name displaying on the screen.  
“Hello, Wheein-sshi…” she smiled, her voice lit up.  
“Are you listening to ASMR?” Wheein slyly asked. Hwasa frowned and shook her head, not that Wheein could see it. But what a minute, did she hear a man chuckling?  
“Is there by any chance that you’re with a guy right now?” she interrogated Wheein with hopes that it was a yes.  
“Urm, do you want to have dinner tonight? At our usual place? Juseyo…”  
“So you can’t really talk now because of that person.” Hwasa guessed.  
“Yup!” Wheein replied adamantly. “So, you’re joining us? Great! See you a minute!” Wheein reverted so fast Hwasa did not even have time to think about what to reply.  
She assumed that it was true then. The question was, who was that guy? Perhaps…?

Hwasa side-eyed Wheein when she saw their additional companion upon arriving at the restaurant. It was their favourite restaurant to unwind themselves after having a stressful day at work; sometimes Moonbyul and Yongsun would join and chaos would ensue. Taehyung looked dashing and awkward standing side by side Wheein near the entrance.  
The three of them walked into the place together and chose the spot at the very back. For Hwasa and Wheein, it was natural to walk to that spot as it was their spot at the restaurant. The owner saw them and greeted them with the loveliest smile ever.  
“You girls know the owner-nim?” Taehyung inquired curiously as they were settling down at the table. Somehow he and Wheein ended up sitting side by side while Hwasa was seated across from Wheein, smirking.  
After placing their respective orders (orange juice for Hwasa, coffee for Wheein and lemonade for Taehyung), silence filled the air. Wheein was suddenly interested in the table cloth and the man at her side was looking around observing their surroundings. Hwasa thought of such a bizarre situation they were in and chuckled softly. Wheein’s ear caught the sound, shooting a judgmental glance on her end towards her best friend. 

***  
Taehyung did not expect at all that Wheein would accept his dinner invitation; he had hopes but again, it was just hopes. Nevertheless, he realized that this was an opportunity for them to get to know each other more and maybe could end up as friends instead of just colleagues. The food was delicious; the tteokbokki was coated with spicy sauce with a tinge of sweetness of honey while Hwasa and Wheein went for gopchang and jjajangmyeon respectively.  
Hwasa- somehow her presence comforted his nervousness that was majorly caused by her best friend's presence, in a way he was indebted to her for being there.  
“How long have you guys known each other?” Taehyung asked, wiping his mouth with tissue.That sauce sure was spicy.  
He saw Hwasa shot a sidelong gaze at him for a few seconds prior to glancing at Wheein who was smirking at his question.  
“It’s a long story to tell, but I’ll try to cut it short; she flirted with me first.” Hwasa blurted while Wheein stayed unusually silent.  
“Oh, so you girls were you know, or still are…?” Taehyung cleared his throat, trying to contain his surprise. His palms were sweating now, his chance with Wheein probably might go down the drain.  
“Stop it, Hyejin! No, we’re not together. We’re childhood friends and each other best buddies.” Wheein waved it off. Hwasa snorted and apologised quickly and told him she was just trying to get some reaction out of him.  
“Reaction? How did you think I would react?” he asked nervously.  
“Just like just now.” she pursed her lips and looked at him apologetically. There was no way she was going to let this guy be with her best friend that easily. He needed to be examined thoroughly; from A to Z, up and down, in and out.  
Apparently Taehyung’s instinct had been right all along, this was not going to be an easy ride - and sighed inwardly.


End file.
